On the Move: Pros give advice to those who want to 'break in' to relo game

Published 11:17 am, Friday, February 28, 2014

On the Move: Pros give advice to those who want to 'break in' to relo game

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

I receive a lot of emails from Houston area real estate agents who want to know how they can "break in" to the relocation business.

This is an important topic, and one that requires a basic understanding of the relocation industry and how agents actually work with relocating employees.

While some corporations choose to handle their employee relocation programs in-house, the majority of larger companies with relatively high volumes of relocation activity tend to outsource their relocation programs to Relocation Management Companies (RMCs). These RMCs manage all aspects of the corporation's relocation programs, and are responsible for engaging the services of specific provider partners, such as real estate firms.

The majority of real estate companies that work with RMCs and relocation clients on a regular basis have one very important thing in common. They all have a relocation department with a full-time relocation director who is responsible for the firm's relocation business.

I asked Mulholland to explain how his company establishes relationships with real estate companies, and to talk about some of the requirements and expectations.

"Initially we look for brokers who are members and/or affiliated with industry consortiums such as Worldwide ERC," he said. "Second we look for brokerages that employ a full-time relocation director with industry designations, such as CRP (Certified Relocation Professional). The reason we do this is because if a company has gone to the trouble of joining the same industry specific groups that we belong to, and have taken the training and been certified in relocation, we know that they speak our language."

In terms of choosing which real estate firms to work with in the Houston area, Rogers said that there are a number of factors that go into the selection process, and echoed Mulholland's sentiment regarding the importance of a full-time relocation director and the need for industry-related designations, such as the CRP.

"There should be a relocation department, a relocation manager who is salaried and not involved in sales, and training programs for full-time experienced agents, preferably with industry designations such as CRP, that will be assigned to relocated employees," Rogers said.

When I asked Mulholland if his company works with individual agents who are not associated with a real estate firm that has a relocation department and a full-time relocation director, he emphatically replied, "No!"

Rogers said, "The intent is to work with a service partner broker that has a relocation department with a relocation manager. There may be some rural or remote locations where it isn't possible to meet these guidelines. However, the qualification process to work with a relocation company is still followed."

Both Mulholland and Rogers pointed out that sometimes transferees request to work with an agent who is not associated with a real estate firm with a relocation department, and who may or may not be well-versed in relocation.

When such requests arise, Mulholland said, "we typically educate the transferee on the benefits of using a relocation trained and certified Realtor and brokerage. These benefits can be both from a customer service perspective (realtors who know industry best practices, relocation policies, rules and regulations), as well as financial benefits (many times their relocation benefits can be tied to using specific service providers. If they chose to use a Realtor outside of the relocation network - they may lose relocation benefits offered by their employer)."

At NEI, Rogers said that they reach out to the requested agent and engage him or her in their guidelines and the expected performance factors for their participating broker partners.

"Often times, they will defer the assignment after a better understanding of working with a relocation employee," said Rogers.

There are also expectations and requirements directed by the corporate clients for the agents assisting their transferring employees.

Mulholland said that these include: 95 percent or higher customer service ratings, being relocation trained and certified, to act as an extension of the RMC, to follow the corporate relocation policy, and always act in the best interest of the relocating employee.

Rogers said that NEI establishes metrics for measuring Broker and agent performance.

"When working with a corporation we often share that criteria. This ensures they can be confident we have qualified the broker partner and have confidence we will only work with those partners who meet our standards."

Please come back next week to learn more about the relationship between the RMCs and their real estate partners.

Michelle Sandlin is a writer who has been involved in the relocation industry for many years. She is the 2014 President of Houston Relocation Professionals (HRP), and Vice President/Director of Communications & Marketing for Chicago Title. Follow Michelle on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HoustonRelocation and on Twitter: @MichelleSandlin. Also visit "On the Move - Exploring Houston Relocation with Michelle Sandlin" at blog.chron.com/onthemove.

If you have something to share or contribute, please send an email to michelle.sandlin@me.com. Please look for another Michelle Sandlin "On the Move" relocation article in today's Jobs section.

Latest from the Chron.com Homepage

Click below for the top news from around the Houston area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.